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[TrueBlue]

An interesting article over at ANN about LGBT representation in anime. Currently collecting my thoughts on this. I was happy to see that the author is transgender and gay.

There's some good stuff here. I particularly like the section in baiting. It not necessarily being a detriment is an angle I've never really considered before.

Also, Madoka spoilers:

Spoiler

I had no idea Sayaka and Kyoko were explicitly confirmed to be dating.

 

[Haly]

As a big CCS fan, I know nothing about the new manga other than that it exists, and that now they have smartphones. Is it any good or is it a cheap nostalgia cash-in?

It's a good nostalgia cash-in. You know how some properties get rebooted and you're all "who asked for this, what are all these people doing to my childhood, why can't the creator put a stop to this madness"? Well CCS 2 is the kind of reboot you always wanted from the people you always loved.

 

[Jex]

You see when a fanbase, yaoi, loves another fanbase, shota, the result is a mixture of the two.

That's why you always use protection!

I didn't even mention the loli-on-women love thing going at the end, either.

It's interesting in regards to a new Fafner sequel as the staff seem like they're done done with the franchise. I think Noto or someone on Twitter was thanking the fans. On the story side it does feel somewhat incomplete, as if they have a final movie missing. That said, after reflection I can see the ending of Exodus being the end of the franchise as it would somewhat mirror what happens in the Bible.

Now on the production/financial side, the show sold fairly well (I think 8k+ average) so it's not like this is some money loss for the production committee. However almost everyone at Xebec is fucking booked for likely the next year and a half. Habara is working on 2202 and I doubt they would want to switch directors even though he wasn't chief. Then a good chunk of the other staff is working on FMP which I expect to be split-cour so that'll be done early-mid 2018. Xebec is literally producing two mechanical animation shows next year, they just don't have the people to do a third production on top of that. I mean unless they have the To-Love Ru team do it.

There's no rush though, right? I imagine they could do it in 5 year or something.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Huh, seems a lot happened indeed in the last ep.

Loool. Fixed.

 

[GoldCrusader]

Crunchyroll's Most Popular Fall Anime by State / Australian Territory!!
http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-fe...ular-fall-anime-by-state-australian-territory

Australian Capital Territory - Izetta
New South Wales - Yuri
Northern Territory - Occultic;Nine
Queensland - Bungo
South Australia - Yuri
Tasmania - Haikyu!!
Victoria - Keijo
Western Australia - Occultic;Nine

Let's note here that Australia knows that Occultic;Nine is one of this seasons best show.

 

[BGBW]

Well, apparently when they're not too busy digging for clams, I guess the Australians do watch anime.

 

[Angry Grimace]

WEB.Working!!!

I like these goofs just as much as the original cast. Having Higashida be a complete straight-man works pretty well too. Weakest character is probably Miyakoshi (she's kind of a generic as far as anime characters go), but I still like her quite a bit.

 

[duckroll]

It's interesting in regards to a new Fafner sequel as the staff seem like they're done done with the franchise.

I don't think so. Every time I thought this was done they come up with another one. I'm convinced the only way Fafner can ever be "done" as a franchise is if Ubukata actually went to jail for domestic assault.

 

[Hellwarden]

Koei Tecmo making interesting decisions regarding DLC characters...

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

An interesting article over at ANN about LGBT representation in anime. Currently collecting my thoughts on this. I was happy to see that the author is transgender and gay.

I have zero idea why the author thinks that Euphonium is total pandering when Yuri on Ice is not and how Victor's character is really all that different from being a typical tease or "bait"

by Jacob Hope Chapman

Oh.

Koei Tecmo making interesting decisions regarding DLC characters...

Not that surprising since half the marketing for this game is "lol rape"

There's some good stuff here. I particularly like the section in baiting. It not necessarily being a detriment is an angle I've never really considered before.

Also, Madoka spoilers:

Spoiler

I had no idea Sayaka and Kyoko were explicitly confirmed to be dating.

Did you watch Rebellion?

 

[names2hard4you]

Koei Tecmo making interesting decisions regarding DLC characters...

Context?

 

[TUSR]

I like haly.

 

[Jarmel]

I didn't even mention the loli-on-women love thing going at the end, either.

I don't remember this.

There's no rush though, right? I imagine they could do it in 5 year or something.

I guess they could announce a movie for late 2018 or something.

 

[Haly]

TUSR doesn't want to raid with me u.u

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Yuri on Ice Episode 5“ Face Beet-Red!! It's the First Competition! The Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship”

Manami provided the best performance so far

Spoiler

even if he did fall midway, I guess they needed something there to justify letting Yuri win in a show about Yuri on Ice

. I think it was largely the dancing on the ice as well as the music and theme chosen that made it one I couldnt take my eyes off of. Some of the other performances in the show were boring in that regard or ones I skimmed through.

Otherwise Yuri seems to be growing fast, what more development is there for his character especially after the unveiling of the theme. Maybe its time to switch to Yurio for an episode?

Manami is just a happy character all around. Hopefully he still gets the occasional moment here and there.

 

[TrueBlue]

I'm assuming Jacob is hoping that Yuri on Ice will "stick the landing" as it were. Without re-reading the article, I think he mentions that it is perfectly possible that it won't.

It's the only way the distinction between Euphonium and Yuri makes sense. I will admit though that all I've seen of Yuri are the stills/gifs that reminded me of Euphonium. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Jarmel]

I'm really curious what the staff for 2202 is going to look like on the mechanical side. Almost all of the 2199 mechanical animation staff is working on FMP and Sunrise DID is probably doing the CG for FMP. So unless Masanori Nishii is working on both FMP and Yamato 2202 at the same time, there's probably a new mechanical director which might be Kobayashi who is serving as assistant director currently. I'm also not sure whether Yamato 2202 is going to use Sunrise DID again or possibly switch to Orange.

They haven't really announced the mechanical staff other than the designers so it's a bit weird how the production teams are breaking down currently in Xebec.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I'm assuming Jacob is hoping that Yuri on Ice will "stick the landing" as it were. Without re-reading the article, I think he mentions that it is perfectly possible that it won't.

It's the only way the distinction between Euphonium and Yuri makes sense. I will admit though that all I've seen of Yuri are the stills/gifs that reminded me of Euphonium. Maybe I'm missing something.

You're not. Every episode of Yuri on Ice you can count on Yuri and Victor being naked in the bath and having a moment with extreme detail and attention to their skater figures and plenty of physical contact. Its more flagrant then Euphonium. It'd be like if Euphonium had a scene like the one with Kumiko and Reina on top of the hill watching fireworks every episode.

 

[Wanderer5]

Bungo Stray Dogs S2 #5

Best treatment ever (not)

So now it Monday for this show? Er okay.

Anyway back into the present, and daaamn this three way war has started off good. The guild had quite a re-introduction as more of them came, and boy am I excited for some of them, like Lovecraft and Steinbeck lol. Hope this cour holds up well, cause this has been great so far.

Sound! Euphonium S2 #5

Woah already gotten to this point, and man was that performance wonderful. Can't wait to see what comes next.

 

[Jex]

I don't remember this.

Umm,

Spoiler

Doesn't Seri attack the Mir in the final episode just so that she can get assimilated into the Island to be closer to the core Tsubaki/Orihime.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Bungo Stray Dogs S2 #5



So now it Monday for this show? Er okay.

Anyway back into the present, and daaamn this three way war has started off good. The guild had quite a re-introduction as more of them came, and boy am I excited for some of them, like Lovecraft and Ste

I think CR had a delay for it, as that episode aired in jpn on friday, I believe.

 

[TrueBlue]

Did you watch Rebellion?

No. I've been meaning to though. I might buy all three movies and marathon them one day. I assume something happens to that effect?

You're not. Every episode of Yuri on Ice you can count on Yuri and Victor being naked in the bath and having a moment with extreme detail and attention to their skater figures and plenty of physical contact. Its more flagrant then Euphonium. It'd be like if Euphonium had a scene like the one with Kumiko and Reina on top of the hill watching fireworks every episode.

I see. Without wanting to put words into his mouth, maybe Jacob believes that Yuri might lead to "text". He seems to have made up his mind regarding Euphonium, judging from this article and his review for the first episode of Season 2.

 

[Jarmel]

Umm,

Spoiler

Doesn't Seri attack the Mir in the final episode just so that she can get assimilated into the Island to be closer to the core Tsubaki/Orihime.

Oh right.

 

[Szadek]

For someone who wants to watch the Madoka series, what are the best ones to watch? There's stuff like Mahou Shoujo, Lyrical Nanoha, etc. but I just want to watch the really good ones.

Like the other said before, watch the TV series, maybe the 3. movie if you dare.
After that, take a look at this chart:
https://i.imgur.com/vFQ3vaZ.jpg
If you like madoka, I also recommed reading at least the first volume of the spin-off Manga The different Story.

The key phrase is "Homura did nothing wrong".

Remember it.

She is the master of doing everything wrong. Griffith got nothing on her.

 

[dimb]

An interesting article over at ANN about LGBT representation in anime. Currently collecting my thoughts on this. I was happy to see that the author is transgender and gay.

Not really surprised to see this article after the way Jacob was talking on the ANNcast last week. I would say it is jumping the gun to sell Yuri on Ice as a piece that pushes strong portrayals of gay characters when that is not really what it seems like it wants to do. It hits the same comedic or pandering beats as something like Free when the concept of gay romance is brought up. Just because the characters are better established doesn't really elevate the text to something truly remarkable. I would say that the direction of the series will not choose to really explore much beyond base level homoeroticism.

On the article itself...Jacob seems way too wrapped up in anime shipping culture and extremely unversed on the topic itself. I am hesitant to criticize someone's understanding of homosexuality but the extensive discussion on "baiting" in the article is the same somewhat sickeningly simplistic perspective that comes from shippers. Sexuality is not hard coded and people can have varying levels of attraction for others. For an article that throws around the term "LGBT" there is really not any recognition of bisexuality, or how sexuality can be fluid for individuals.

If there was an article like this it should be about something like Hourou Musuko/Wandering Son, but that does not even show up in the list of recommendations. Like come on...

 

[Hellwarden]

Context?

From the new Berserk Musou, rape horse is going to be a DLC character. This is apparently the most fan requested character.

BTW, Skull Knight is not in the main game, and has not be announced as a DLC character yet.

 

[Jarmel]

From the new Berserk Musou, rape horse is going to be a DLC character. This is apparently the most fan requested character.

god bless berserk fans

 

[Qurupeke]

Yuri on Ice 5

Yuri says he loves Victor. But then redefines love to an abstract feeling.

That Phichit guy is going to get wrecked.

 

[Branduil]

An interesting article over at ANN about LGBT representation in anime. Currently collecting my thoughts on this. I was happy to see that the author is transgender and gay.

The degree to which the author misreads the visual direction of Euphonium to the point where he concludes it's just male gaze shit with no concern for the character's feelings forces me to wonder if he ever actually watched the show or is just judging it based on out-of-context .gifs posted on social media.

 

[dimb]

The degree to which the author misreads the visual direction of Euphonium to the point where he concludes it's just male gaze shit with no concern for the character's feelings forces me to wonder if he ever actually watched the show or is just judging it based on out-of-context .gifs posted on social media.

ANNcast is doing a full show on Euphonium either this week or next I think, or at least they want to. So...their interpretation of the show would probably come out there. Given their view already lining up like this it will probably make me sad.

 

[Wanderer5]

I think CR had a delay for it, as that episode aired in jpn on friday, I believe.

Ep 4 was aired on a Friday also right? I guess that when the show is being aired now. Wonder what is up with CR delaying this week (and from here on?).

Edit: Oh it was pushed back this week cause of production delay, and should return back to normal unless more delays come around.

 

[Jex]

An interesting article over at ANN about LGBT representation in anime. Currently collecting my thoughts on this. I was happy to see that the author is transgender and gay.

This article is kind of bad? I don't think it ever makes the point it think it's making.

It feels like the article falls apart here:

Yuri!!! on Ice stars two complex characters of the same gender who harbor a directly sexual and romantic attraction to each other, in a relatable story that does not fetishize or exoticize these feelings.

This is a conclusion that the author draws but it is not one they actually give arguments for. Not only don't they put forth any arguments, they don't even define the terms 'fetishize' or 'exoticize', which is something they absolutely have to do if they're going to draw that conclusion. Why is this lack of definition a problem? It's a problem because it looks to me as if Yuri on Ice is clearly fetiszhising it's cast because every episode we are given lovingly crafted shots of them naked. Does the author of the article use some other definition that I am not aware of?

Instead, they list a number of examples of how to do LGBT representation 'badly', but then they don't really spend enough time arguing how, exactly, Yuri on Ice does it well. This seems like a problem.

Oh and this article is also really long. I know that we're all guilty of being rather verbose when talking about anime but if you're actually writing to convince people and make points about a topic as important as representation then you really owe it to yourself and your audience to write as effectively as possible. Is a giant list of counter-examples with no actual examples a 'good argument'? Clearly, I think, not.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Not going to write any real detailed impressions of this week's Euphonium because doing so would be impossible. It's a master class episode made up largely of watching a single musical performance. I think I barely moved a muscle during the majority of that performance.

 

[duckroll]

I'm really curious what the staff for 2202 is going to look like on the mechanical side. Almost all of the 2199 mechanical animation staff is working on FMP and Sunrise DID is probably doing the CG for FMP. So unless Masanori Nishii is working on both FMP and Yamato 2202 at the same time, there's probably a new mechanical director which might be Kobayashi who is serving as assistant director currently. I'm also not sure whether Yamato 2202 is going to use Sunrise DID again or possibly switch to Orange.

They haven't really announced the mechanical staff other than the designers so it's a bit weird how the production teams are breaking down currently in Xebec.

Heh. You're not going to like what I found.

https://bvc.bandaivisual.co.jp/shop/itemdetail/BCXA-1204/

CGディレクター：木村太一
美術監督：谷岡善王
色彩設計：福谷直樹
撮影監督：堀野大輔

CG Director: Taiichi Kimura
Art Director: Yoshio Tanioka
Color Design: Naoki Fukutani
Director of Photography: Daisuke Horino

These are the staff not listed on the official site yet. 2202 has a different CG Director, a different Art Director, a different Color Designer, and a different Director of Photography. I thought they would keep the team together, but it looks like you're right. 2202 really is gutted.

 

[Jex]

Oh right.

Look, I'm just going to make Fafner sound as unappealing as possible, to make it easier for me to praise the show later!

Also Kazuki sux and he makes better characters worse by existing.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

My favorite part of Yuri on Ice not being blatant in its fetishistic nature is when they do a pan to victors legs and then cut to a Tanuki statue.

Tanukis are known for have gigantic testicles. Deep...

 

[Jex]

Heh. You're not going to like what I found.

https://bvc.bandaivisual.co.jp/shop/itemdetail/BCXA-1204/

CGディレクター：木村太一
美術監督：谷岡善王
色彩設計：福谷直樹
撮影監督：堀野大輔

CG Director: Taiichi Kimura
Art Director: Yoshio Tanioka
Color Design: Naoki Fukutani
Director of Photography: Daisuke Horino

These are the staff not listed on the official site yet. 2202 has a different CG Director, a different Art Director, a different Color Designer, and a different Director of Photography. I thought they would keep the team together, but it looks like you're right. 2202 really is gutted.

Jesus. All this so that some ho-hum material like FMP can get another adaptation?

When Yamato sucks I'm going to know who to blame.

 

[TrueBlue]

Not really surprised to see this article after the way Jacob was talking on the ANNcast last week. I would say it is jumping the gun to sell Yuri on Ice as a piece that pushes strong portrayals of gay characters when that is not really what it seems like it wants to do. It hits the same comedic or pandering beats as something like Free when the concept of gay romance is brought up. Just because the characters are better established doesn't really elevate the text to something truly remarkable. I would say that the direction of the series will not choose to really explore much beyond base level homoeroticism.

On the article itself...Jacob seems way too wrapped up in anime shipping culture and extremely unversed on the topic itself. I am hesitant to criticize someone's understanding of homosexuality but the extensive discussion on "baiting" in the article is the same somewhat sickeningly simplistic perspective that comes from shippers. Sexuality is not hard coded and people can have varying levels of attraction for others. For an article that throws around the term "LGBT" there is really not any recognition of bisexuality, or how sexuality can be fluid for individuals.

If there was an article like this it should be about something like Hourou Musuko/Wandering Son, but that does not even show up in the list of recommendations. Like come on...

This is a good point actually. I appreciated the idea that baiting might serve as a "halfway house" as opposed to a sin - which is something I never really considered before - that idea taken with this in mind does come across as overly simple.

We shouldn't be too quick to label scenes/characters as bait, just as we shouldn't be too hasty in proclaiming them as proof of a relationship. Opposite sides of the spectrum, but arguably too simplistic either way.

I keep hearing good things about Wandering Son. I assume the consensus here is good?

 

[Branduil]

My favorite part of Yuri on Ice not being blatant in its fetishistic nature is when they do a pan to victors legs and then cut to a Tanuki statue.

Tanukis are known for have gigantic testicles. Deep...

Yeah but when Reina confesses her inner desires to Kumiko and the show draws upon the Yuki Onna imagery to represent Kumiko being swayed by her words that's just some male gaze shit depicting the characters as chunks of meat or something.

 

[Rogue Agent]

Like the other said before, watch the TV series, maybe the 3. movie if you dare.
After that, take a look at this chart:
https://i.imgur.com/vFQ3vaZ.jpg
If you like madoka, I also recommed reading at least the first volume of the spin-off Manga The different Story.

Thanks. That chart looks insane!

 

[duckroll]

Jesus. All this so that some ho-hum material like FMP can get another adaptation?

When Yamato sucks I'm going to know who to blame.

Well not entirely. The CG Director switch is something that was probably expected because the Yamato 2199 guy is was knee deep in actually directing Gundam the Origin.

But I just checked the Origin site, and....

http://www.gundam-the-origin.net/world/04.html

For Vol4 there is only the Chief Director listed, with no Director credit anymore! Either they left it out while updating, or.... dude got fired.... rip.

 

[godisntheradio]

Not going to write any real detailed impressions of this week's Euphonium because doing so would be impossible. It's a master class episode made up largely of watching a single musical performance. I think I barely moved a muscle during the majority of that performance.

it was that good. I was so into it, paying attention to every instrument, every note. it was hypnotizing

 

[Qurupeke]

Not going to write any real detailed impressions of this week's Euphonium because doing so would be impossible. It's a master class episode made up largely of watching a single musical performance. I think I barely moved a muscle during the majority of that performance.

The most impressive fact about it was its length. Such a pleasant surprise we got a full length, uninterrupted performance.

 

[phaze]

You're asking Nabeshin to cool off with sexual innuendo? Good luck with that.

It took me a while to comprehend this guy is not Watanabe of Bebop fame.

First thing of his I'm watching so I wouldn't know !

What are you, some kind of Doctor?

Anyway, the the answer to your 2nd question is yes, definitely worth it. It's not a work I can recommend without reservation, but it is one I would whole heartedly compel people to experience.

Gotcha, been slowly gravitating towards giving it a renewed push with all the talk on it round here but I guess I'll put it officially on the to do list.

April and the Exraordinary World

This might come in handy.

It was nice watching something with a different aesthetic compared to most of anime but I can't say I thought much of it outside of some ending stuff. Mostly by the books, kids/family friendly tale.

 

[Jex]

Like the other said before, watch the TV series, maybe the 3. movie if you dare.
After that, take a look at this chart:
https://i.imgur.com/vFQ3vaZ.jpg
If you like madoka, I also recommed reading at least the first volume of the spin-off Manga The different Story.

The one major I problem I have with most of these 'genre charts' is that they seem somewhat unconcerned with the quality of the actual titles they are recommending. Instead, they simply group works together that tick certain genre boxes without actually filtering them for quality.

 

[ThatChairMan]

There's no rush though, right? I imagine they could do it in 5 year or something.

Given the trend of about 5 years between the original and H&E, then 5 years between H&E and Exodus, I'm expecting something like that.

Or maybe the announcement will actually just be pachinko.

 

[Jarmel]

Heh. You're not going to like what I found.

https://bvc.bandaivisual.co.jp/shop/itemdetail/BCXA-1204/

CGディレクター：木村太一
美術監督：谷岡善王
色彩設計：福谷直樹
撮影監督：堀野大輔

CG Director: Taiichi Kimura
Art Director: Yoshio Tanioka
Color Design: Naoki Fukutani
Director of Photography: Daisuke Horino

These are the staff not listed on the official site yet. 2202 has a different CG Director, a different Art Director, a different Color Designer, and a different Director of Photography. I thought they would keep the team together, but it looks like you're right. 2202 really is gutted.

This doesn't surprise as again Nishii is pretty hands on with the shows he works on and I imagine he's putting a lot of effort into FMP. Also the style used in 2199 of hand-drawing over CG was somewhat mentioned in the FMP announcements by calling the mecha animation 'hybrids'. So yea he's putting work in. That's probably why they have the same CG director and CG studio as 2199 as well.

The new CG director is linked to Imagica? I don't see where they've done CG animation before so maybe someone else is doing the CG animation?

I'm somewhat surprised about the art director as he worked on the movie so she's not new to the franchise but I was expecting him to be working on the new FMP. The color designer is from Exodus so that's not a left-field one.

The Director of Photography one is a megaton. I thought Aoki would do both FMP and 2202 like he did Rinne no Lagrange and 2199 roughly around the same time. I guess he's all in with FMP. Either that or he's drinking Pina Coladas in Okinawa.

Jesus. All this so that some ho-hum material like FMP can get another adaptation?

When Yamato sucks I'm going to know who to blame.

Well you still get the same character animation staff!

Honestly though Habara has been on record saying he wanted a different directorial style compared to Izubuchi and he wanted to emulate the original Yamato stuff.

Well not entirely. The CG Director switch is something that was probably expected because the Yamato 2199 guy is was knee deep in actually directing Gundam the Origin.

But I just checked the Origin site, and....

http://www.gundam-the-origin.net/world/04.html

For Vol4 there is only the Chief Director listed, with no Director credit anymore! Either they left it out while updating, or.... dude got fired.... rip.

lol

You mean Shōsuke Uechi or Takashi Imanishi? Imanishi wasn't even the CGI director on the movie so I don't know what's going on with him.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Eupho S2 05

KyoAni's got a reputation (no, not that Off topic one) for making the best looking TV anime. Even with that, this was some good shit. Movie level, not TV level. Like what is there to even say? The length, production, direction, everything just speaks for itself.

 

[BluWacky]

Or maybe the announcement will actually just be pachinko.

There's already Fafner pachinko so it wouldn't be a huge surprise!

 

[Hero Prinny]

Finally got around to watching 91 Days which i would have watched earlier but you know, school stuff keeps one busy. I really enjoyed it with the exception of the last episode, the last one was pretty boring and not really a huge fan of open endings like that. There are some that do it well but this is not one of those imo.

Spoiler

Corteo is a true bro.